Watching Sabrina dance on stage is pure joy but it also reveals a lot about who she is as a person.  She dances with grace, agility and strength but it is her heart that shines through the most.  These somewhat opposing characteristics are also apparent when she is dealing with socially sensitive issues.  She has so much compassion, particularly for those that don’t have a voice, and yet don’t mistake this for weakness for this is where her power is.  She is very willing to listen but will not relinquish her values because someone believes differently.  She is helpful and supportive beyond measure but will not be taken advantage of.  Just like a dancer’s flexibility, her grace is supported by an inner strength that is not apparent to the casual observer.  

Born in Eugene OR, Sabrina moved to Lompoc at the age of five and grew up in the house her father was born in on her grandparents’ walnut farm located on the outskirts of Lompoc.  As a youth she stayed rather busy participating in team sports, 4-H and raising lambs, taking dance lessons and playing the trumpet in the marching, jazz and concert bands in high school.  After high school Sabrina moved out of town for 10 years and experienced life in larger cities like San Francisco and Huntington Beach but returned to Lompoc in 2005.  Growing up she had many significant women in her life, her mother being the most influential of all, and it was from these women she feels she learned her kindness and compassion.   She also believes it was their influence which helped her develop her skill of being in service to others, not only in her family but also for the community she lives in.  

Sabrina put this belief of community service to an even larger test in 2005 when she answered the call and volunteered with the Red Cross as a disaster responder after hurricane Katerina.  It was this experience that revealed to Sabrina how she was able to remain calm in the midst of chaos and help others in crisis.  Perhaps more importantly, however, she discovered ’a feeling of accomplishment and worth’ helping people navigate a traumatic experience.   She shares, ’Their success was my success.  It inspired me to start looking at career fields where I could duplicate that feeling. It put me on the path to where I am now.’  In 2012, after much encouragement from her mother, she applied for the Victim Advocate position at the City of Lompoc which she still currently holds.  This position was initially funded with grants, including the first year Sabrina held it, and I believe it speaks to who Sabrina is as well as to how valued the position is in the community, that the position has now been funded directly through the City budget for over eight years.  

Prior to this inspirational experience, Sabrina had worked various jobs (nanny, literacy tutor, and food service positions among them) but it was when she was working at Red Robin as a server and shift supervisor that she learned a valuable lesson she carries with her today from her manager.  ‘People’s perception is their reality.  In context he was explaining how fast 2 minutes for me as a server was rushing between tables could feel like 10 minutes to hungry guests who just sat down.’  This was the first time she had considered how a shared or collective experience among people could be interpreted very differently, each view point or perspective valid, but something she still uses everyday in her work as a Victim’s Advocate.  ‘For example, a victim’s experience with a police officer is their reality, while an officer’s perspective and reality may be completely different.  Neither are wrong, both are valid.  Understanding this allows me to serve victims in a more comprehensive capacity.’  I would add that Sabrina’s somewhat unique ability to hold both perspectives as valid in the same moment is a very healing quality she brings to our community in so many of the social issues we have faced and those we continue to grapple with.  

No single life event has been transformational for Sabrina, rather it has been the smaller, day to day experiences she shares with others in truly listening to the words being spoken and extending her empathy and understanding for what they are going through.  Among some of  these experiences were conversations with a friend while growing up who was Mexican American and shared her feelings of never seeing anyone on TV who looked like her.  This was not something Sabrina had considered before so it was with these discussions and others like them she began to view and react to the world around her in a different way, recognizing the impact of what she was seeing and experiencing may be very dissimilar for another person.  

And who are Sabrina’s heroes?  In her own words ‘Any person who walks through thru this harsh world with kindness, empathy, vulnerability and authenticity.  I could rattle off a list of individual heroes like my mother or Ann McCarthy (my boss) or Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but the truth is I find heroism in everyday acts and tasks.  It’s my 17-year-old niece Madi who’s using her voice to lift others.  It’s my best friend Jessica who pushes through pain to nurse her newborn.  It’s a victim that exposes their lived nightmares to strangers.  It’s a local restaurant owner that rearranges their dining room outside to keep their staff employed and give their customers some normalcy.  It’s a police officer speaking with kindness and compassion to someone who is afraid of them.  It’s the person who openly shares their mental struggles just to show others they aren’t alone.  I think everyone has a bit of a everyday hero in them.’

Sabrina is a hero to many as she shares her generous heart through her work, her dance (both performing and teaching),  and in her everyday conversations as she listens and validates the disparate experiences she hears.  She makes a difference in our world daily with her compassion, empathy and voice.  Lompoc is so very blessed to have Sabrina as a part of our community and her final comment?  ‘I think everyone has a bit of everyday hero in them.’ ~♥~